Strand working apparatus



. A g. 1, 1933. k E. J. MCIL'VRIED 1,920,207

STRAND WORKING APPARATUS Filed Aug. '12, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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A TTORNEY.

Aug. 1, 1933. E. J. McILVRIED STRAND WORKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 12 1929 2 we V m1 m I m M ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 1, 1933 UNITED STATES STRAND WORKING APPARATUS Edwin J. Mcllvried, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a Corporation of New York Application August 12,

7 Claims.

This invention relates to strand working apparatus, and more particularly to wire drawing apparatus. 7

It is the usual practice in the drawing of wire, especially in the manufacture of fine wire, to wind the drawn wires ona take-up spool which is operated at high speed, resulting in the accumulation of considerable energy in the rotating spool as the amount of wire wound thereon increases. In the operation of the same winding or spooling apparatus, the momentum of the spool will oftentimes be sufficient to cause the wire to break, usually between the spool and the capstan. Loss of time in the operation of the machine consequently results, for it is'necessary to rethread or restring the machine.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an. efiicient strand working apparatus in which a strand may be wound continuously at high speed. 0

In accordance with one embodiment, the invention contemplates a high speed wire drawing machine including the usual drawing drum or capstan for drawing the wire through reducing dies and a take-up spool on which the drawn wire is wound. Both the capstan and take-up spool are driven by power communicated through a clutch and mechanical brake device. Specifically the shaft of the take-up spool is equipped with an electromagnetic brake which is controlled by an electrical switch operated by a manually actuated control mechanism for rendering the clutch ineffective and the mechanical brake effective, or vice versa. Upon operating the control mechanism to release the clutch to discontinue the operation of thewire drawing machine, the electro-magnetic brake is'applied to the take-up spool shaft prior to the operation of the mechanical brake to stop the capstan shaft. By stopping the take-up spool before bringing the capstan to a full stop the momentum of the spool is eliminated and thus breakage of the wire between the capstan and the take-up spool is prevented.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the folowing description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a wire drawing machine with the improvements incorporated therein;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevationalview of the take-up or spooling end of the machine;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sec-- 1929. Serial No. 385,171

line 5-5 of Fig. 1 on the shaft for the take-up spool.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views the wire drawing machine, indicated as a unit by the numeral 1, is operated by an electric motor 2 driving a main or worm shaft 3 which drives a worm gear 5 through a worm 6. This shaft 3 as shown in Fig. 3 is journaled in a bearing 8 and its inner end, terminating at a point centrally of the machine, has a clutch disk or ring 10 secured thereto. Positioned within a bearing 15 of the clutch disk 10 is an end of a capstan shaft 12, which is supported in bearings 14 in the machine and is provided with a worm 16 for driving'a main capstan 18. It will be understood that the machine may be equipped for coiling the wire instead of spooling, in which case the shaft 12 drives the block.

The right hand bearing 14 (Fig. 3) is supported in a bracket 19 which is integral with the frame of the machine and forms a housing 20 surrounding but spaced from the shaft 12. Betweenthe clutch disk 10 and the housing 20 is located a slidable sleeve 21 which is shown in Fig. 3 in a neutral position, but when moved to the right, operates and expands a clutch 24 which engages the disk 10 and couples the shafts 3 and 12. When the sleeve is moved in the opposite direction, or to the left, it expands a brake 25 against the inner surface of the stationary housing 20 to stop the rotation of the shaft 12 and thus the rotation of the capstan.

The left hand end of the shaft 12 is connected through a coupling 28 to a spooling or take-up driving shaft 29 which is supported at its outer end in a sleeve 30 mounted in bearings 31 inthe housing. To the left hand end of the shaft 29 is connected a driving disk 32 (Fig. 4) which is arranged to drive frictionally a casing 35 carried upon and connected to a sleeve 30 provided with a spiral gear 36. The gear 36 in turn meshes with a spiral gear 38 (Fig. 5) which is carried upon and drives a transverse spool shaft 40. This latter shaft is supported in bearings 42 in the frame and at its outer or .left hand end carries a take-up spool 44, driving the spool through a pin disk 45. On the right hand end of thesha'ft 40 (Fig. 5) is mounted a brake drum 46 which is surrounded by a brake 48. This brake is preferably of the electro-magnetic type operating to hold the brake open or unapplied when the magnetizing coil thereof is energized, and upon de-energization to release the brake so that it can be applied to the drum by springs incorporated in the brake mechanism. The de-' tails of the brake are not shown and described, as these are well known in the art, it being suflicient to state that any substitute form of brake may be employed, an electro-magnetic type of brake being preferred.

The disk clutch 24 and the brake 48 are designed to be operated by a common actuating means which is preferably intended to be operated so that the brake is applied to the spool shaft just after the release of the clutch and prior to the application of the brake to the capstan. This sequence of operation is desirable in order to bring the spool to a stop before the capstan is stopped, and thereby avoid snapping the wire between the capstan and the spool. The operation just described is performed by a lever 50 which is pivoted on a bracket 52 on the frame of the machine. The lever 50 is connected to a shaft 53 carrying an operating lever 54 which, extended in one direction, engages a groove in the outer face of the sleeve 21 and in the opposite direction is connected to asliding rod 55 which carries a collar 56', designed to operate a switch 58 controlling the electromagnetic brake.

To bring the machine to a stop the lever 50 is moved in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 2) causing the sleeve 21 (Fig. 3) to be moved to its neutral position away from, the disc clutch 24, to disengage the clutch 24, and also causing the rod 55 (Fig. 2) to move to the left. Further movement of the lever 50 in a counter-clockwise direction moves the rod 55 further to the left and moves the sleeve 21 out of its neutral position. Since, as is stated above, the common actuating means or lever 50 is adapted to apply the brake 48 to the spool shaft before the brake 25 is applied to the capstan and since the brake 48 is of the electromagnetic type requiring a definite interval of time to be applied after the switch 58 is opened the rod 55 is preferably adjusted to open the switch 58 before the lever 50 has been moved in a counter-clockwise direction sufficient to cause the sleeve 21 to actuate the brake 25.

It is apparent that while the particular forms of brakes on the capstan and spool are preferred, other forms of brakes may be substituted. The essential features of the invention are the provision of separate braking devices for the capstan and the spool together with a common actuating device for applying both brakes at substantially the same time, the takeup spool brake being applied preferablyslightly ahead of the capstan brake. This same actuating means also operates the clutch to the capstan shaft.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the invention herein described and illustrated is merely a convenient and useful form of the invention, which is capable of many other modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. In a strand working apparatus, a strand advancing means, a strand storage means, means for actuating the strand advancing and the strand storage means, means for connecting and disconnecting the strand advancing and the strand storage means to and from the actuating means, a brake for the strand advancing means, a brake for the strand storage means, and means for first operating the connecting means, then the brake for the strand storage means, and then the brake for the strand advancing means.

2. In a wire drawing apparatus, a driving shaft, a strand advancing drum shaft, a take-up spool shaft, a clutch between the driving shaft and the drum shaft, a driving connection between the drum shaft and the spool shaft, a brake for the drum shaft, a separate brake for the spool shaft, and a common actuating means for releasing the clutch, applying the brake to the spool shaft, and applying the brake to the drum shaft in the order named.

3. In a wire drawing apparatus, a driving shaft, a capstan shaft, a take-up spool shaft, a clutch between the driving shaft and the capstan shaft, friction driving means between the capstan shaft and the spool shaft, a brake for the capstan shaft, a brake for the spool shaft, and a common actuating means for releasing the clutch, applying the brake to the spool shaft, and applying the brake to the capstan shaft in the order named.

4. In a strand working apparatus, a'strand ad- I ,movable means for controlling the brake for the take-up spool and for controlling the brake for the drum, connecting meansassociated with said movable means and said spool brake when said movable controller has reached a predetermined position for applying said spool brake, and other connecting means associated with said movable controller and said drum brake when said movable controller has reached another predetermined position for applying said drum brake.

5. In a strand working apparatus, a strand advancing means, a strand storage means for receiving a strand advanced thereto by the advancing means, a braking mechanism for the advancing means, a braking mechanism for the strand storage means, a shaft, a lever mounted on the shaft, connecting means associated with said shaft and said storage means brake when said lever has reached a predetermined position .for first operating the braking mechanism for the strand storage means and other connecting means associated with said shaft and said advancing means brake when said lever hasreached another predetermined position for operating the braking mechanism for the strand advancing means.

6. In a strand working apparatus, a strand advancing means, a strand storage means, means for actuating the strand advancing and strand storage means, a brake for the strand advancing means, a brake for the strand storage means, and a rock-shaft being responsive in predetermined movements for disengaging the actuating means, for applying the brake for the strand storage means, and for applying the brake for the strand advancing means in the order named.

7. In a strand working apparatus, driving means therefor, a strand advancing means, transmission elements including a shaft and a clutch associated with said driving means and said strand advancing means for actuating said strand advancing means, a take-up spool, other transmission elements including a friction drive associated with said take-up spool and said shaft for actuating said take-up spool, a brake associated with said first mentioned transmission elements on the driven side of said clutch, a second brake associated with said other transmission elements on the driven side of said friction drive, and means for releasing said clutch, applying said second brake and applying said first brake in the order named. r

EDWIN J. McILVRIED. 

